News
Orwell Prize announces longlist
25.02.09 | Katie Allen
The 2009 Orwell Prize for political writing has announced an 18-strong longlist for its book award, with 12 journalists, and also, for the first time, 12 bloggers also up for prizes. The longlist includes Ahmed Rashid's Descent into Chaos (Allen Lane) and Nick Davies’ Flat Earth News (Chatto).The prize received a record number of entries for the second year in a row. Director Jean Seaton said: “The economic crisis we’re in has been caused by the belief that there was a mysterious priesthood with an exclusive access to understanding—we have worshipped these false gods for too long. In fact, if the public don’t understand then the experts probably don’t either. Treasuring the best writing and journalism has therefore never been more important.”
The other judges were Ian Jack (former editor of the Independent on Sunday and Granta) and Ferdinand Mount (former head of the policy unit at 10 Downing Street, former editor of the TLS).
The six-strong shortlist will be announced at a debate at Reuters, "Are political parties bankrupt? The economic emergency and the next election", on 25th March. The winners will be announced at the Foreign Press Association on 22nd April. For the journalism and blog prize longlists, visit the Orwell Prize website.
The longlist in full:
Andrew Brown Fishing in Utopia (Granta)
Patrick Cockburn Muqtada al-Sadr and the Fall of Iraq (Faber)
Nick Davies Flat Earth News (Chatto)
Eva Figes Journey to Nowhere (Granta)
Matthew Green The Wizard of the Nile (Portobello)
Diarmuid Jeffreys Hell’s Cartel (Bloomsbury)
Tony Judt Reappraisals (Heinemann)
Hatim Kanaaneh A Doctor in Galilee (Pluto)
Sara Maitland A Book of Silence (Granta)
Owen Matthews Stalin’s Children (Bloomsbury)
Mark Mazower Hitler’s Empire (Allen Lane)
Hsaio-Hung Pai Chinese Whispers (Penguin)
Ahmed Rashid Descent into Chaos (Allen Lane)
David Runciman Political Hypocrisy (Princeton)
Philippe Sands Torture Team (Allen Lane)
Jeremy Seabrook The Refuge and the Fortress (Palgrave)
Mark Thompson The White War (Faber)
A N Wilson Our Times (Hutchinson)
